Boat construction



April 18, 1944.

E. H. ELLINGHOUSE BOAT CONSTRUCTION Filed April 7, 1942 INVENTOR EhELL/NGHOUSE Patented Apr. 18, 1944 OFF-ICE BOAT CONSTRUCTION Edgar H.Ellinghouse, Davenport, Iowa. Application April 7, 1942, Serial No.438,049

ILL'FTUNITED STATES PATENT 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to the art of boat building and moreparticularly to the construction of towboats and is more especiallyconcerned with the propulsion and steering thereof.

. Among the objects of this invention are the provision of a boat of thecharacter stated which will be easy to steer, both when going forwardand when going backward; the provision of a boat having the capabilityof making greater speed, both forward and backward, than boats of thesame class as heretofore constructed; and such further objects,advantages, and capabilities as will hereafter appear and as areinherent in the construction disclosed herein. My invention furtherresides in the combination, construction, and arrangement of partsillustrated in the accompanying drawings and, while I have shown thereinwhat is now regarded as the preferred embodiment of this invention, Idesire the same to be understood as illustrative only and not to beinterpreted in a limiting sense.

is well known, the loads of towboats are often made up of several bargeshitched together and, unless these boats have a great deal of propellingpower, they are unable to make progress against rapidly flowing streams.Therefore, I have increased the propulsive power of .the boat byincreasing the size of the wheels and by. extending the wheels laterallybeyond the sides of the boat. If the wheels are forced to rotate toorapidly in an attempt to increase the propulsiveforce thereof, theblades or buckets, in coming down, will strike the water so hard that agreat deal of the driving power of the engine or engines is expended inovercoming the .resistance of the water to the downward motion of-the.buckets. Likewise, the buckets, in moving upwardly, lift a great deal ofwater, if they are caused to rotate too rapidly. I therefore increasedthearea of the blades, constituting the buckets of the wheel. Also, thediameter of the wheel is increased so as to make the direction oftravelof the blades in the water more nearly horizontal than if the wheel hasa small diameter.- I prefer a wheel approximately twenty two feet (22')in diameter and twelve feet (12') in length. Then, by constructing therear end or stern of the boat with openings for the reception of thesewheels so that approximately seven and one-half feet (7 /2) of theinner. end of each wheel is within the general outline of the boat andfour and one-half feet (4%) extends laterally beyond the boat, I am ableto have the advantage of the large wheel without the disadvantage ofexcessive width of the boat.

The boat may be provided with a hood or overhang extending entirelyalong each side thereof, as shown in solid lines in'Fig. 1, or withhoods which are not the entire length, as shown by the broken lines inFig. 1. These extensions serve to protect the wheels against breakage bycoming in contact with wharves, barges, or other things which mightcause their destruction, as Well as furnishing support for the outerends of the wheel axles.

In the drawing annexed hereto and forming a part hereof,

Fig. 1 represents a plan view of a towboat constructed in accordancewith my invention; and

Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1,partly broken away.

Reference will now be made in greater detail to. the annexed drawingsfor a more complete description of this invention. The body I of theboat is provided with the usual living quarters 2 and pilot house 3, andpreferably has a hood 4 extending laterally therefrom to serve as anoutside walkway for the crew and as a buffer toprevent the body and thewheels from being injured by bumping against wharves, barges, or otherobjects against which towboats often strike during the course of theiruse. Parts of the body and hood are omitted at the stern corners to formopenings 5 for the reception of the wheels .6. As is customary, thesewheels are mounted upon shafts, as shown at I, to be rotated by thepower unit or units. In the present instance, the power is indicated ascoming from a pair of engines 8 located insideof the. body of the boat.These are shown diagrammatically by broken lines, as are also the powertransmission units, one from-each engine'to awheel.

It is clear from Fig. 1 that the wheels 6 are mounted partly within thewidth of the body of the boat and partly outside thereof, but-it is alsoclear that these wheels are mounted within the extreme limits of thehood 4 so that they are entirely protected against bumps by externalobjects. It is clear that each of the wheels has its individual powerunit 8 to which it is connected by flexible power transmission means,such as chains or belts. These drives are shown onlydiagrammatically,and it "is clear that the drives can be stepped up or stepped down, asdesired, to give the wheels any desired speed of rotation in accordancewith the normal engine speed of the power units 8. It is also clear thatthe wheels may be rotated in unison or one may be rotated forwardlywhile the other turns backwardly, thus causing the boat to turn. In thisWay, the boat can be steered or controlled in its course to a certainextent.

However, for the normal steering of the boat, I prefer to have a pair ofrudders 9 for controlling the backing of the boat, and a pair of ruddersID for controlling the direction of the forward running of the boat. Therudders 9 are connected by a tie rod l2. The cable [3 is wound aroundthe drum of the steering wheel l4, and its two ends pass backwardlyunder the deck, as shown. in Fig. 2, to the pulleys l5 and I 16 aboutwhich they pass to be connected at 18 to the tie rod ll, being crossedas indicated at H. The two ends of the tie rod H are connected to thetwo tiller rods I9 by means of which the position of the rudders 9 iscontrolled. The rotation of the wheels 6,. when backing, throws wateragainst the rudders 9 and, when these are set to the right or left, theforce of the water against the rudders tends to turn the back of theboat in the direction in which the rudders are turned.

Ina similar manner, the; cable 2| is wound about the drum of wheel 22and extends downwardly about pu l ys 2. and. from here rearwardly aboutthe pulleys 2A. and, 25,, from which the ends of the cable extend; and;are attached, as indicated at 26 and H, to the, tie rodl2, being crossedat 28. Therefore, when thewheel 22. is turned, the cable 2! causesmovement of: the tie rod. l2, connected at its respective ends to thetiller arms. 29: of the rudders iil. This sets the rudders to the rightor left, depending upon the direction the wheel 22 is turned.

It is necessary, when backing, to lock the rudders HJ so that they willnotswing from. side to side in an, undesired manner and, for thispurpose, locking means is provided. Thiscomprises a plurality of pins39,, 3|, 32 securely set into or attached to the tie rod. I2. sothatthey will stand all of the necessary strain connected with thisoperation of the boat, The latching means also includes the latch,33pivoted at 34 upon the deck of the boat, In order, to enable the pilotto unlatch the rudders H for steering purposes when he decides to go.forwardly, a cable 35 is attached to the latch member 33 and extendsforwardly and up into, the. pilothouse where it is suitably securedwithinthereachof the pilot. A pullupon this cable. 35 will lift thelatching member 33 away from the pins on the tie. rod l2 and permit thisto move longitudinally so as to shift the rudders.

The normal waterlineis indicated by the broken line 36, which showsthat,when the boat is standing still, the entire rudders are not immersed.However, when thewheel is turning, enough water is raised thereby, so.that thefull faces of the rudders afi-ec-ted are impinged by the movingwater. When thewheels. turn forwardly, driven by the motors8, thelatching member 33 being released. the boatwill move forwardly and maybe steered by the rudders l9, controlled by the wheel 22; The rudders9-being. free to turn will assume aposition substantially parallel tothe direction of motion of the. boat, and they do not need to becontrolled, the direction of the boat being controlled by, the ruddersl9. Whenbacking, the rudders ID, are set in straight-ahead'position andthe latching member 33 is dropped down to engage the tie rod l2 onopposite sides of the pin 3|. The wheel M is then operated to turn therudders 9 to guide the boat while the wheels are driven reversely.

As the power of the motors is transmitted to the wheels, the speedthereof must be reduced, and this may be accomplished in any one ofseveral Ways. For example, the motor shaft may have a worm drivegearing, rotating the shaft upon which the sprocket wheel 38 is mounted.This latter is connected by a chain 31 to a sprocket wheel 39 on theshaft 1. Thus, the speed is reduced twice, once by the worm gearing andonce by the difierence in the sizes of the sprocket wheels 33 and 39.

Towboats are customarily equipped at their forward. end with posts, asindicated at 40. The hood may end rearwardly from the front end of theboat, as shown by the broken lines 4|.

While I have disclosed. herein what is: now' reeardd as the preferredembodiment. of this in.- vention, it is of course understood thatthis;spe chic, disclosure may be departed from without departing from thespirit of my invention as. expressed in, the followingclaims.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

I. A boat having two. pairs ofv rudders and a pair of propulsion wheels,the propulsion wheels being set intov the stern. of the boat andprojectinglateraily somewhat beyond the sides; of the hull, of the boat,one rudder in frontofi and; one to the rear of each wheel and inapproximately central alignment therewith, actuating means for therearwardly located rudders connecting them for simultaneous operation,said means connecting the rudders being rigid, and means manipulablefrom the. pilot-house to latch the rudders. againstlateral swinging orto releasethem for such motion, said latching means comprising a rigidarm pivotally mounted upon the hull of the boat and pins carried by therigid means connecting the, rudders, saidv arm swinging in anapproximately vertical plane to. be positioned between the pins to holdthe rudders stationary or tobe removed frombetween the pins whereby tomake possible steering action of the rudders.

2; Atboat; having two pairs of rudders and a pairof propulsion means,the propulsion means beingset into the'stern of the boat, one rudder infront or" and one to the rear of each. of said means and inapproximately central alignment therewith, actuating means for therearwardlylo; cated rudders connecting them for simultaneous operation,said means connecting the rudders being rigid, and means manipulable:from pilotehouse to latch the rudders against. lateral swinging or torelease them for such motion; said latching means comprising a rigid armpivotal]? mounted upon thehull of the boat and pins carried by the rigidmeansconnecting the rudders; said arm swinging in an approximatelyvertical plane to be positioned between the pins to hold the ruddersstationary or to be removed from between the pins whereby to makepossible; steering action of the rudders.

EDGAR H. EILINGHOUSE.

